Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (2013): The Review

Overview

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is the kind of sequel that never really aims to reinvent the series, and honestly, that’s part of its charm. It slides comfortably alongside the original trilogy with a lengthy adventure, enjoyable stealth-platforming, and plenty of optional content that longtime fans will appreciate, even if much of it lacks real challenge. While it rarely reaches the same heights as the best moments of its predecessors, the game understands the appeal of the franchise well enough to deliver a lighthearted, consistently fun return for Sly and the gang without ever feeling like it’s trying too hard to modernize what already worked.

Score: 7 out of 10

The Positives ✅

There’s something strangely comforting about slipping back into the world of Sly Cooper. Maybe it’s the jazzy soundtrack, the warm cel-shaded art style, or the feeling of wandering through moonlit rooftops while guards stumble around beneath you completely unaware. Whatever it is, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time understands almost immediately why people fell in love with this series in the first place. Even after years away, stepping back into Sly’s world feels less like revisiting an old platformer and more like reconnecting with childhood itself.

The biggest achievement of Thieves in Time is that it genuinely feels like a Sly Cooper game. That sounds simple, but reviving beloved franchises years later usually results in something that either misunderstands the original identity entirely or leans so heavily on nostalgia that it forgets to justify its own existence. Thankfully, Sanzaru Games clearly understood the assignment. The core DNA of the series remains intact: stealth-driven platforming, elaborate heists, goofy humor, stylish environments, and the natural chemistry between Sly, Bentley, and Murray all feel immediately recognizable.

The time-travel premise also works surprisingly well for the franchise because it allows the game to explore the Cooper legacy in ways earlier entries only hinted at. Meeting Sly’s ancestors could have easily become shallow fan service, but many of them end up being genuinely memorable additions to the cast. Tennessee Kid Cooper, Rioichi Cooper, and Sir Galleth all bring distinct personalities and gameplay gimmicks that help each era feel unique rather than simply functioning as visual reskins. The idea that every Cooper ancestor refined the family’s thieving techniques across different historical periods is just such a naturally good fit for this universe.

Visually, the game does an excellent job modernizing the series without sacrificing its identity. The environments are colorful, exaggerated, and full of personality, whether you’re sneaking through feudal Japan, the Wild West, medieval castles, or snowy mountain hideouts. The cel-shaded aesthetic still looks fantastic because the series was always built around stylization rather than realism. Character animations especially deserve praise because they retain that exaggerated cartoon energy that made the original trilogy feel so expressive.

Gameplay-wise, the formula remains incredibly satisfying. Sneaking across rooftops, pickpocketing guards, collecting clues, and slowly preparing for larger heists still scratches a very specific itch that few platformers ever really replicated properly. The movement system especially remains one of the franchise’s greatest strengths. Sly simply feels good to control. Climbing poles, balancing across tightropes, sliding along rails, and leaping between rooftops all flow together naturally in a way that makes traversal itself enjoyable even outside of mission objectives.

The humor also lands far more often than not. Thieves in Time remembers that Sly Cooper was always a weird mix of Saturday morning cartoon energy and surprisingly clever writing. The banter between the gang still feels charmingly natural, and the game constantly throws ridiculous scenarios at the player without ever taking itself too seriously. Even smaller moments, like Bentley overexplaining plans while Murray impatiently waits to smash something, still feel true to the characters after all these years.

And honestly, there’s just something refreshing about how unapologetically “video gamey” the entire experience is. Every world feels designed around fun first. There are collectibles everywhere, strange side activities, bizarre boss fights, and goofy disguises that exist simply because they’re entertaining. Thieves in Time never feels embarrassed by its own silliness, and that sincerity goes a long way.

The Negatives ⚠️

As much as Thieves in Time successfully captures the surface-level identity of the franchise, there are definitely moments where it struggles to fully recapture the magic of the original trilogy. The biggest issue is probably the writing surrounding certain returning characters, particularly Carmelita Fox. Her characterization feels noticeably different compared to previous games, often leaning too heavily into exaggerated jealousy or repetitive relationship drama in ways that feel less nuanced than before. There are stretches where the writing simplifies characters into broader versions of themselves rather than allowing them to naturally evolve.

The humor, while still charming overall, occasionally dips too far into forced slapstick or overly childish territory. Earlier Sly games balanced cartoon comedy with a surprisingly mature understanding of friendship, loyalty, and identity. Thieves in Time sometimes loses that balance, opting for louder jokes and more exaggerated personalities instead of the quieter emotional moments that gave the original trilogy unexpected depth.

Mission design can also become repetitive over time. While each historical setting introduces new mechanics and gimmicks, the overall structure rarely changes dramatically from world to world. You scout locations, complete setup missions, unlock the final heist, and repeat the process several times over. It’s still enjoyable because the core gameplay loop remains solid, but there are moments where the game starts to feel slightly formulaic, especially during longer play sessions.

Some of the additional gameplay mechanics introduced for specific ancestors also feel less polished than Sly’s traditional stealth-platforming. Certain gimmick-heavy missions drag on longer than they should, pulling attention away from the gameplay style that actually makes the series special in the first place. Whenever the game focuses too heavily on minigames or forced gameplay variations, the pacing noticeably slows down.

And then there’s the ending, which honestly remains one of the most frustrating cliffhangers I’ve experienced in a platformer. Not necessarily because cliffhangers are inherently bad, but because Thieves in Time clearly sets up future storylines that never received proper continuation afterward. The result is an ending that feels less like a satisfying conclusion and more like the first half of a story we may never actually see completed.

The Experience 🎮

Playing Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time feels strangely bittersweet. Not because the game itself is sad, but because there’s this constant awareness that you’re revisiting something from another era of gaming entirely. This is the kind of colorful, mascot-driven platformer that used to dominate consoles during the PS2 generation before the industry slowly shifted toward hyper-realistic open worlds and cinematic blockbusters. Coming back to this style of game almost feels nostalgic by default now.

And honestly, that nostalgia hits hard here. There’s a warmth to the world of Sly Cooper that very few franchises ever managed to replicate. The series always understood how to make stealth feel playful instead of oppressive. Sneaking around in Thieves in Time doesn’t feel stressful; it feels cozy. Even when guards are chasing you across rooftops or alarms are blaring, there’s this lighthearted energy holding everything together.

What surprised me most replaying it was how attached I still felt to the Cooper Gang. Sly, Bentley, and Murray genuinely feel like lifelong friends, and their chemistry carries the experience constantly. Their conversations feel natural in a way many platformers never really bother attempting. You believe these characters have spent years pulling impossible jobs together. That familiarity gives the quieter moments just as much charm as the larger heists.

The time-travel structure also adds this underlying feeling of legacy running throughout the entire game. Meeting the Cooper ancestors isn’t just fan service, it reinforces the idea that Sly is part of something much larger than himself. Every ancestor represents a different era, a different personality, a different interpretation of what it means to carry the Cooper name. There’s something genuinely endearing about seeing how each of them contributed to the family’s history.

At the same time, Thieves in Time constantly reminded me how much I miss this entire genre of games. Not everything needs to be a 100-hour RPG or a grim cinematic drama about trauma and survival. Sometimes you just want to jump across rooftops as a raccoon thief while jazz music plays in the background. Sometimes you want colorful worlds, goofy villains, and platforming challenges designed simply to be fun.

By the end, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time felt less like a perfect continuation of the trilogy and more like a heartfelt reunion with characters I didn’t realize I missed this much. It stumbles occasionally. Some writing decisions don’t fully land. Certain mechanics overstay their welcome. But underneath all of that is a game that genuinely understands why people cared about Sly Cooper to begin with. And honestly, after such a long absence, that alone felt pretty special.